Disneyland is sitting on top of a gold mine, and they don't seem to realize it. That's it above: Stromboli's theater from "Pinochio," pictured here in a concept painting by Tenggren.
What a beautiful building! It has the feel of a wooden circus tent. It's architecture that's meant for fun.
Here's (above) the original Albert Hurter drawing that Tenggren referenced. The perspective's off, and the rear of the building lacks detail, but it's still a powerful statement. Tenngren improved it by moving the Russian-style tower closer to the front and bringing the banner poles closer in.
Hmmm...well, maybe the tower is okay where it is.
I'm always amazed to see how cloth artifacts can improve the look of a building. Awnings, banners, draperies...all serve to take the hard edge off structural geometry.
The Hurter/Tenggren building was never used in the film. The design didn't go to waste though, it's one of the main attractions in Fantasyland.
I love this facade, though it seems underused in its role as the front door to a crystal glass store. It would work better as the come-on of a functional marionette theater, with a barker and teaser puppet show on the balcony. With poles and banners restored, with some real wood, it would make a great stand-alone structure as Hurter and Tenngren imagined it, especially if it was kept small and intimate, as in the original artwork.
If Disneyland hosted a real marionette theater, imagine how many puppets they'd sell in the gift shop!
Maybe the show would be hosted by a Stromboli look-alike. I nominate puppet enthusiast Steve Worth. For the puppeteers...maybe the Flexitoons people.
The plot for the show? Just like the film: a bewildered Pinochio interacts with manic puppets.
C'mon Disney!
13 comments:
Disney needs to hire you as there creative man for Disney Land.
Not so connected to the post. but I thought you would have some interest....
architecture
That is a FANTASTIC idea!!! You can take the original music from the movie and arrange the show to that. Add some comedy bits with Stromboli in there, and I think it would be a lot of fun. I would go in if I could get to Disneyland.
Cool idea, Eddie! Maybe the live puppeteers could interact with the audience while the chorus could be animatronic marionettes.
I like the way the Tenggren drawings have no straight lines or hard right angles. The sway of the roofs & the slope of the pillars suggest a complementary dynamic between the structure & gravity (by which the artist creates a sense of gravity & structure). Beneath the modern theme park facade is the rigid steel-beam functionalism of a soulless machine with an adding machine for a heart; the Disney Corp.
I hope someone at the Walt Disney Company is reading this post. Once again, your genius is quite evident. I agree with Rooniman on this one.
Thomas: Is the idea to deliberately build a structure that looks like a ruin? It's a fun idea for a single building, but I wouldn't want to live where there were a lot of structures like that.
I like Stuart Brand's ideas about customizable architecture, but I don't see why that would apply to this building more than any other.
Rooni, Eric, Pappy, Roberto: Thanks!
Its only fictional
That "Hamburger Cafeteria" is actually the "Wishing Star" crystal store, and used to be the "Gepetto's Workshop" store.
Village Haus, the hamburger restaurant in Fantasyland (Sponsored by Minute Maid!) looks like so:
http://www.ruama.com/Disney/Disneyland-September-2005/1002035/36364470_Kopdo-L-1.jpg
Nice idea, Eddie, but wasted on the Disney brass today. You just know they'd want to figure out a way of putting Buzz and Woody in there with Pinoke.
Lapsed: Thanks for the correction and the picture! I haven't been to Disneyland for about a year and a half, but I could swear that the last time I was there I was able to enter the resturant through the Stromboli facade, even though that's not the main entrance. Am I remembering that wrong? Anyway, I'll change the post. Thanks!
Thomas: It sounds like I offended you, which wasn't my intention. I enjoyed the links you sent, and was glad to get them.
There are real world examples of new buildings that are deliberately meant to look like ruins, and I was partly responding to that.
No, not at all, really! I meant it as a clarification. I can see how the post could be taken the wrong way. Maybe it should have went - It's fiction, only.
Disney might consider doing a puppet theater if they could do it on a huge megamarketing scale, like the way they do their touring Disney on Ice franchise, which haul in tons of loot. But intimacy would be sacrificed beyond their corporate imagination.
Disneyland would make a lot of money from that idea! It's very cute and creative!
I know at Disneyworld, their types of entertainment are not too appealing, like parades and shows. But something like a puppet show would be perfect, especially with Pinocchio as the star!!
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